Blind Date With A Bear(48)

Two year olds, mates. Quinn’s mind turned to Paige, a subject that hadn’t been far from his thoughts in days. He wanted her, right now, right this very minute. In his arms. He wanted her bent over the desk with his cock buried so deep inside he touched her womb. A womb he wanted filled with his child. As usual, any thought of Paige made his cock swell with desire.

He picked up his phone. “What?” He wasn’t sure he could take any more bad news at the moment. As it was, he was stuck on site waiting for the inspector to file his report. Everything, and he meant everything, that had been approved during the last month had to be reapproved. That meant ripping up concrete on the top floors and ripping out plumbing on some of the bottom levels.

“Ryker found something.” His brother didn’t have to say anything else. Quinn stripped and shifted. One way or the other he was going to put a stop to this. So he could go claim his mate.



Paige’s presentation went better than she’d expected considering her mind was full of questions. Why had Quinn insisted on calling her his mate? She knew it wasn’t true. If they had been mates, she would have been in his bed that very first night. Was he already regretting getting involved with her? She’d known it wouldn’t last, but she’d thought she’d have longer with him.

Deb waved to her as she passed her cubicle. All the engineers were located on the same floor. It was the company’s way of promoting creativity. Paige personally thought it was their cheap ass way of not renting a building with real offices and real walls.

She sat down in her chair gratefully, even if she flinched from the contact. It was a pleasant flinch, though, she thought, smiling. It reminded her of the time she’d had with Quinn last night. Quickly putting away the items she had used during her presentation, she logged into her email. At the very top of her inbox was a message from Quinn. She frowned. Had she given him her email? She didn’t think so. Then she remembered all the company’s emails were the same. First name dot last name. It wouldn’t have been hard for Quinn to have discovered hers. With her heart pounding, she opened it.



Lunch again at construction site? Don’t say no. Met me at noon. Top floor.



Paige’s body got all tingly when she remembered what they’d done last time. Humming softly to herself, she finished answering her emails. For the first time today, she could concentrate on her work.



It was raining hard by the time Paige reached the construction site a little before noon. Parking her car, she got out, opening a large umbrella. She didn’t want to look like a drowned rat when she saw Quinn. Running her free hand down the side of her linen dress pants, she smoothed the wrinkles. She’d dressed for the presentation this morning, not an afternoon delight rendezvous.

As she walked to the elevator, she was surprised by the lack of activity. The last time she’d been here the air had rung with the sound of jackhammers and heavy machinery. Now it was silent, almost too silent. She was nervous as hell. She hadn’t had time to talk to Deb and ask questions. What did being mates mean? Was it the same as true mates? She didn’t think so. Both he and Deb had been casually mentioning mates and mating since the blind date. No doubt, he was trying to find a nice way to tell her he’d like to have a relationship, but when his mate appeared, he’d be out of there like a bat out of hell, something Paige already knew.

Her happiness at meeting Quinn for lunch faded the closer she got to the elevator. Maybe he was just going to tell her now, get it over with before he invested too much time in her. If she wasn’t agreeable to a non-committed relationship he could walk away sooner rather than later. Relationship was a stretch, a non-committed booty call, maybe.

She pushed the metal door up as she’d seen Quinn do. Closing the door was more difficult than opening it, but she got it closed. Stabbing at the big red button that would take her to the top, she shook off the umbrella. After folding it up, she leaned it against the side. As the elevator rose, the umbrella tumbled through a gap in the floor she’d hadn’t seen. She watched as it fell to the ground, a bright splash of red on a dark, dreary day.



Ryker had indeed found something. This time not just tracks, but shifters. The damn woods behind the construction site was crawling with jackals. Two or three dozen. What was Marcum hoping to accomplish? A blitz attack against the Blackwood brothers now that the site was shut down? If he thought a couple of dozen jackals were a match for three pissed-off grizzlies, the man was delusional. With the Council on their way to Atlanta, there was no way the man would get away now. Large drops of water fell on Quinn’s bear as the rain started to pour down. The bear roared and the man cursed. It was turning into a totally fucking bad day. A moment later, the animal lunged forward and two other big bears fell in behind him without question. The jackals were going down.